I am telling mine that Mr Osborne has cancelled Christmas this year

 

Ozzy says Party on As an alternate

 

I have got 5 kids eldest is 21 he has his own place so he wont get much spent on him prob about £100 or so and forget about the money he borrows through the year and has not yet paid back lol. i have 2 teenagers 17 and 15 any bought them each a larger plasma tv & surround sound systems and iphones each all of which are 2nd hand plus clothes and small bits like that.
ive got 2 younger kids ages 9 and 10 that will get a larger tv and surround sound system between them then a new bmx from halfords each and 2nd hand blackberry phones each plus clothes and small bits id say probs spend £400 on each. my wife and i never buy for each other as we would rather spend on the kids and we buy anything we want through the year anyways lol. i see Christmas as a time for kids to enjoy and be spoilt and the adults get hammered lol

 

My daughter will be 16 in January, we've got her an (dare I say it on here) iPad, and around £100 on clothes n stocking fillers. Also thinking of getting her a Blu ray player for her room, this will pay for itself because I won't have to buy triple play discs all the time

I don't mind going a bit OTT at Xmas because she never asks for anything and even as a young kid never asked for stuff, a couple of months ago I had to force her to pick some CDs she would like

 

I think that spending enormous sums on presents for children devalues the present in the child's mind.

Les

 

About £1000 on the two of them.

My lad (6) is getting an iPad Mini then other bits of toys

Have you lot seen the price of toys these days?

Plus you only live once

 

Only if the children in question know the value of the presents.

 

Society needs to get a grip on itself.
Christmas is supposed to be about religion but now it's consumerised into oblivion, it seems to me to be a case of keeping up with the Joneses.
I'd hate to have a young family again, the pressure is on the parents to buy expensive presents for their children and will probably cause a lot to go into debt.

When I was a lad.........

 

My 2 year old is getting some coilovers, my 1 year olds getting a 16g turbo and my wife's getting a mapping session if they don't want them I can find a home for them.

 

Probably spend about £100 on my daughter but she's only going to be 6 months old at Christmas. A few toys and some clothes which she needs anyway as she's growing so fast.

I have a feeling her grandparents and auntie (being my sister) are going to go mental on presents as there are no other kids on my side of the family.

Prob spend around £150 on the wife.

As for me, a hybrid turbo and remap for my Focus ST sounds good.

 

My kids are 6 and 4 now and they get about £100 each. However they get loads of presents from grandparents and aunts/uncles. And tbh the wife is always buying them toys all year round, much to my dismay sometimes.

The house is over flowing with toys and I worry they will spoiled and not understand/appreciate how lucky they are.

It's difficult to get the right balance, I want the kids to enjoy their childhood but I'd be devastated if they grew up to be spoiled brats who don't understand the value of money.

 

This. I want my son to have bits I didn't have and the best chances (within my means) but my heart drops every time I see some sad bas*ard parent going on about how much they've spent on their young kids. As it's some competition They usually grow up the spoiled 'cool' kids at school and from my experiences usually end up either on benefits scrounging or blagging their way through life. It's almost like a parental peer pressure

 

I spend about £75 each on my kids for Christmas and about £100 at birthdays. I wish I was loaded like everyone else on here but I simply find Christmas a horrendously expensive time which I simply don't have the money for and so work hard to earn it or pay it off after the event depending when I get extra work to do so.

Even with such tiny amounts spent compared to everyone else here my kids rooms are bulging with toys to the point where they just have too many to know what to play with because add the presents bought by family for each of them and we end up each year wondering where we are going to put it all.

If I went out and spent £300 on each of the 4 of them apart from not having the space to keep it all the stuff just wouldn't be appreciated and get stuck in a cupboard somewhere. As it is I am probably going to end up selling a lot of their previous years toys as they just don't want them any more and it's a waste. The youngest at 2 is the biggest beneficiary of this as he waits until the others go to school and then rifles through all their toys as well as having his own to play with, he just does not need any more that what he has already.

 

the less the better, they only expect more next year, but yeah i usually spend around 250 each

 

The biggest problem is historical imho.

as parents, you always want more for your kids than you had. And to an extent, this is correct (imho)
My parents did everything they could to get myself and my sister the things we coveted, and both Wifey and I want to do the same.

BUT it does get to point where it becomes a p1ssing contest with other people, and ridiculous amounts get spent.

I'm not going to divulge how much we spend, however suffice to say that my kids (girls 12 & 9) won't go without. But they won't have the "keeping up with the Jones' " either.

I also remember the overwhelming generosity shown by friends and family for both of our kids when they were much younger. Overflowing toys etc that in the end was just too much - spreading xmas present opening over several days was not fun (for us or the kids!).
Can't remember how we approached the subject (as it was so kind of people to "give") - but it was sorted, and in a nice way.

 

They are quick enough off the mark over prices without a doubt.

Les

 

Thats as close to the mark as anything else for sure. The actual cost of a present should never come into its value to the person receiving it.

Les

 

No kids, so our gift to each other is our bi-annual month in New Zealand, leaving 20th December

Stuff your wet cold and miserable stressful crappy traditional bollox, I'm off surfing

 

Can't say I blame you!

Les

 

50 each. They have enough stuff already.

I bet my eldest could not even think of something if I asked her. Might try that later.

 

I sense a lot of e-***** in this thread.

 

I dunno...er, CDs....erm a new iPod.

 

I wouldn't say its over the top but I try to not spnd too much when they have everything what are you going to buy them? Best off spending less so there is always something better you can buy for next time.

I have friends who just buy things to say they have spent lots of money on thier kids but I tend to put some thought into my presents which is actually harder as they get older as you have to take notice of thier needs and not just buy buy buy

 

4 kids £300 each,give the wife 2k she sorts the lot! job done,cant buy that much with £300 really with the avg phone or games console costing that.

 

I just like to give my son everything I never got as a child be it dangerous or not , motorbikes violent games so on and so forth but you know what the little chap wants ? Just to spend more time with me in the car ... That is priceless!